David Platt tosses secret ballot at next McLean Bible Church vote on elders.
SHOCK: Small group leaders among those David Platt and Elders denied ballots at June 30 meeting.
Also, may be in violation of McLean Constitution by resubmitting the same nominees.
McLean Bible Church will eliminate secret ballots at its next vote on elders. According to a church email, “ballot security measures” will be implemented that include a unique identifier and the individual’s names.
This is an unscrupulous practice when people in power want to stay in power by intimidating voters. The latest McLean communication to its congregates said, “Ballots will not be anonymous but will have active member’s name on the ballot itself.”
Totalitarian rulers use this tactic to stay in power. This method of voting has never been used at McLean since the church was established, according to current and former MBC leaders.
David Platt and elders will have access to these ballots through a hired third-party law firm and could deny membership to those with opposing views casting a ballot. Elders can now potentially blacklist members from volunteer positions in the future who vote a certain way.
One MBC insider said this is a measure to force church staff to vote according to how David Platt and elders want or face potential consequences.
“This is intimidation,” one former MBC staff member told the Capstone Report.
The ballot security measures are extensive including showing identification.
According to the church email, “Ballot security measures will also be implemented to prevent some of the challenging circumstances that we observed this past Wednesday night. Specifically, all active members will be required to show official identification, which will then be checked against the most current MBC active membership roster, and then a ballot will be given to those active members who are shown on the current active membership roster. Ballots will not be anonymous, but will instead include a unique identifier with the active member’s name on the ballot itself. These official ballots will then be cast by name by all active members present. Additional measures designed to further preserve the integrity of the vote on elder nominees by active members of MBC will also be communicated in coming days.”
Ballot Security Farce
The ballot security talking point is a farce. It was the action of McLean Bible Church leadership that created a situation where persons leadership deemed too conservative were removed from active church membership. This apparently happened sometime around June 16—just prior to the congregational meeting.
One man and his wife who were told they were inactive members, overheard a conversation about their status between MBC leaders.
“I overheard them saying we went inactive June 16,” Adam Jeantet said. “We weren’t supposed to hear that.”
And it came as a shock to Adam and his wife.
“Yes, it was a surprise. My wife still leads a small group Bible Study for McLean that meets every Tuesday night. It is meeting tonight,” Adam Jeantet said Tuesday afternoon during an interview with the Capstone Report.
Despite years of dedicated service to McLean Bible Church by Adam and his wife, the couple was placed on the “Naughty List.” The only thing that might have caused this move was the fact the couple met with church leaders to raise questions about transparency in late 2019.
Yet, the couple continued to attend the church, teach Bible Study and even voted in Congregational Meetings in December 2020 and March 2021.
Another longtime McLean Bible Church member, B (at her request we are using a pseudonym out of her fears that David Platt’s smears might harm her business), said she was removed from membership for political reasons. Specifically, she raised concerns in late October or early November 2020 about David Platt’s embrace of Critical Race Theory and his pro-Democrat voting views.
B voted in the December Congregational meeting. She was told she was now inactive at the June meeting.
She believes this was politically motivated.
While B was given a Provisional Ballot, she did not cast it.
“They removed my right to vote,” B said. “There is a process for that and they did not follow it.”
Violating process is how MBC treated a married Asian couple who were long time members and supported various church ministries.
The married Asian couple were concerned about Social Justice issues promoted by David Platt and other elders at the church. They penned as letter to the leaders outlining their concerns and when leaders persisted in what they believe was anti-biblical behavior, they pulled their membership in protest in January 2021.
However, they reconsidered and went through the process to regain membership in March 2021.
The church told the couple they would have to go through member orientation again and repat the traditional process for new members. They did so along with a cohort of about 40-50 others.
The next phase was to be a meeting with elders before final approval of the church.
This never happened.
However, while 61 other new members were voted in and approved June 30 as new members of McLean Bible Church—the married Asian couple were not among them.
Why?
Was it because they raised concerns about Critical Race Theory?
This type of arbitrary action from McLean Bible Church leadership has galvanized opposition.
“Since the meeting and not getting a ballot, I’ve been a lot more vocal,” Adam Jeantet said. “What are they going to do, make us more inactive?”
Can David Platt renominate the same elder candidates?
Platt announced a July 18 business meeting during morning worship and the renomination of the elders on Sunday, July 4, 2021. Chuck Hollingsworth, Ken Tucker and Jim Burris were renominated by Platt to become elders. However, some MBC members believe this violates the constitution.
According to the McLean Bible Church Constitution Article 3, Section 4, which declares, “If as a result of the election, the Board of Elders fails to consist of a minimum of six (6) elected elders, in addition to the pastor-teacher, the elders shall submit additional nominations to the congregation for approval within ninety (90) days after the June Congregational Meeting.”
Additional nominations clearly means new not the previously rejected names, according to a former MBC church staff member. Some in the church believe these men are Woke enablers who will continue the trend of MBC’s embrace of Critical Race Theory and other godless ideologies.
“What David Platt is doing violates the spirit and probably the letter of the McLean Bible Church Constitution,” said Jeremiah Burke, leader of the Save McLean Bible Church movement of conservatives.